Imagine if ski resorts owned a snow-making machine like the one that buried south Buffalo with eight feet of snow in just a couple of days.Watch NewsCenter 5's report"So far, when things have happened, they've happened in a big way," observed Judah Cohen, the principal scientist and director of Seasonal Forecasting at Atmospheric and Environmental Research (AER), a division of Verisk Climate, in Lexington.Cohen and his team look for signals in the atmosphere to forecast how our winter will play out.And while the epic mess in Buffalo is noteworthy, Cohen's real focus is on another part of the world -- Siberia."If you have more snow cover in Siberia in the month of October, it's colder really across the whole northern hemisphere, but particularly in the eastern U.S.," he explained.This past October, the snow cover in Siberia was the second highest on record."When you have a lot of snow cover, you build this dome of really cold dense air," Cohen said.That dome starts to push the polar vortex southward, ultimately forcing frigid air into the U.S. and even bending the jet stream."And so far this season, that kind of energy transfer seems accelerated," Cohen said. "It seems stronger than normal."Already this month, arctic outbreaks have brought bitter cold to states in the Plains and Midwest.Cohen expects that trend to continue with cold air settling into the eastern U.S., but warmer than normal temperatures developing in Maine and northeastern Canada.That contrast could put Boston right in the middle of a storm track."It'll be an active and interesting winter," Cohen told chief meteorologist Harvey Leonard with a smile. "Is there a hotel nearby where you can make some advance reservations?"That's because figuring out that rain/snow line could lead to long nights for StormTeam 5."We're predicting above normal precipitation for right along the East Coast," Cohen said. "So a wet winter -- but I'm especially bullish over the possibility of an above normal snowfall."

BOSTON —

Imagine if ski resorts owned a snow-making machine like the one that buried south Buffalo with eight feet of snow in just a couple of days.

"So far, when things have happened, they've happened in a big way," observed Judah Cohen, the principal scientist and director of Seasonal Forecasting at Atmospheric and Environmental Research (AER), a division of Verisk Climate, in Lexington.

Cohen and his team look for signals in the atmosphere to forecast how our winter will play out.

And while the epic mess in Buffalo is noteworthy, Cohen's real focus is on another part of the world -- Siberia.

"If you have more snow cover in Siberia in the month of October, it's colder really across the whole northern hemisphere, but particularly in the eastern U.S.," he explained.

This past October, the snow cover in Siberia was the second highest on record.

"When you have a lot of snow cover, you build this dome of really cold dense air," Cohen said.

That dome starts to push the polar vortex southward, ultimately forcing frigid air into the U.S. and even bending the jet stream.